M1:2453 — کفر و ایمان عاشق آن کبریا / مس و نقره بندهٔ آن کیمیا

This couplet concludes a moment of profound realization for a man who had railed against his poverty. After repenting, he understands that his wife's nagging, which he first saw as a worldly trial, was actually a divine signal—an "intimation of God" (ishārāt-i ḥaqq). He now sees that even seemingly contrary states, like kufr (unbelief) and īmān (faith), are not absolute opposites from the divine perspective. Both are merely responses, or "lovers," drawn to God's overwhelming Majesty (kibriyā).

The second line reinforces this with a classic Sufi metaphor. Copper (a base metal) and silver (a precious one) are both just raw materials for the ultimate spiritual Alchemist (kīmiyā). God's power is the transformative process that can turn the copper of a sinner into the silver of a saint. The point is one of radical divine unity (tawḥīd): all states, high and low, exist in relation to the one Reality that governs and gives meaning to them all. The man's personal crisis has led him to this universal insight.